Turkish auto producers put brakes
on drop in exports in last two months

The fall in Turkish automotive exports due to a current global economic downturn looks to be approaching an end as the drop in revenue from sales abroad has slowed down, especially in the last two months.

Auto exporters, however, are still far from happy. Their revenue in recent months only reached as much as 60 percent of their earnings in comparison to the same months last year. The automotive sector's exports were more than $2 billion for every month from January to July in 2008; however, this year's exports barely reached $1.5 billion in any month in the same period.

According to figures provided by the Uludağ Exporters' Union (UİB), the automotive industry exported $8.47 billion worth of vehicles to 159 countries and autonomous regions, as well as 13 free zones, between January and July. The sector exported $15.93 billion worth of vehicles between January and July 2008, meaning revenues dropped 47 percent in the same period this year.

Automotive exports were down 56.2 percent and 56.4 percent in January and February of this year, respectively, compared to the same months of 2008. The decrease was 49.2 percent in March, 52.2 percent in April and 48 percent in May. In June, the deceleration in the drop became more apparent with a decrease of only 34.8 percent. There was a decrease of 31.7 percent in July compared to the same month in 2008, indicating that the sector may be overcoming the present negativity.